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Feargal Quinn

Feargal Quinn is an Irish politician, businessman and an independent member of the 22nd Seanad ireann. He was first elected as a senator in 1993 from the National University of Ireland university panel, and was re-elected in 1997 and 2002. He is a commerce graduate of University College, Dublin and is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs. He is also an Oireachtas member of the National Economic and Social Forum.

Feargal Quinn was born in Dublin into a family that ran a holiday camp. He said It's a smashing way to grow up -- and a smashing business education. At his father's Red Island holiday camp just outside Skerries on the coast of northern County Dublin, Feargal worked as a waiter, page boy, bingo caller -- or whatever the day called for.

His fathers policy of charging guests up front for their entire holiday made a deep impression on Feargal because it was set up, so that no matter how hard everyone worked to give the guests a great experience, they wouldn't increase their profit from the guests stay. The only way they could judge their success was if the guests came up to Mr. Quinn snr. and said I had a great holiday. I'm rebooking for next year. Every single thing that was done was centered on one overriding aim to get people to come back. Feagal learned that if you look after getting repeat business, profit will largely take care of itself.

Feargal Quinn earned himself a reputation as Ireland's pope of customer service. In 1960, he opened his first shop when he was 23. He went on to become the executive chairman of a chain of over twenty supermarkets with around 6000 employees called Superquinn. He is currently non-executive president after his family sold out their interest in August 2005.

Superquinn piloted some of the world's most advanced retail technology, including self-scan shopping, multifunction kiosks, digital shelf labels, and mobile checkout technology. Some of their most celebrated features are its lowest-tech innovations -- from professionally staffed child-care centers to complimentary umbrellas at the door. Superquinn inspires such intense devotion that many customers say that they drive out of their way -- and past several of its bigger competitors -- to shop there.

Feargal is not just the face of Superquinn he's something of an institution in Ireland. He is also well known for his 10-year stint as chairman of Ireland's national postal service, during which he led the transformation of a money-losing government institution into an innovative, profit-making semi - state enterprise. In 1993, he was elected as an independent member of the Seanad Eireann, the upper house of the Irish parliament.

Feargal Quinn likes to remind business leaders that they should make only five assumptions, which he calls his five lessons in humility My customers know more than I do. My employees know more than I do. Neither my employees nor I can be creative all of the time. What I knew yesterday is not enough for today. I'm not responding fast enough for my customer.

Spend any amount of time with Feargal Quinn, and you'll hear one mantra repeatedly I listened, I learned, I discovered. His humility when it comes to what he doesn't know -- and his humanity when it comes to thinking about the customer experience -- are the simple secrets of his success.

Feargal currently chairs the IBEC-sponsored business committee on better regulation, Sensible Rules and in 2006 he was appointed an Adjunct Professor in Marketing at National University of Ireland, Galway.He is the author of Crowning the Customer (O'Brien Press, 1990), which has been translated into many languages.

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